ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — A man who pleaded guilty to second-degree assault after injuring a deputy with the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office last year was sentenced in Arapahoe County District Court.
Diego Gallegos Castorena, 24, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday. He pleaded guilty in March to the charges stemming from an incident on Jan. 22, 2020.
Castorena rammed the sheriff’s vehicle and hit a deputy as they tried to block him from entering an apartment complex where an alleged drug transaction was to take place.
A deputy shot and wounded Castorena during the assault. The deputy’s actions were ruled legally justified by the district attorney’s office.
“You don’t get to ram a patrol car and injure a deputy and then just walk away,” said District Attorney John Kellner in a news release. “This defendant chose to commit a crime and then, rather than surrender, he made things worse when deputies tried to apprehend him. This just shows the dangers law enforcement officers face every day to uphold the law, even when responding to what some claim are ‘low-level offenses.”
Deputy District Attorney Taylor McCreary prosecuted the case.